Drive! Super Mission, Advent
by Howlitzer
Summary: A dark coverup, a mysterious series of events, and a plot to revive some of the greatest evils the world has ever seen. With determination and torrents of spells at her call, Lillet Blan takes on what may be the biggest mission ever known.
1. Grimoire of New Beginnings

_What do you see when you look in the mirror, Lillet Blan?_

_Do you see your face? Or…do you see someone else's?_

_Hm…maybe I see both. Maybe I see the girl I was, as well as the woman I have become._

_A great magician, right? Wasn't that the dream I was reaching for?_

_However, I purposely set the bar higher and higher in that regard. Is being great good enough? _

_No, not anymore. I need to be better, even better than that._

_What I need more than anything is to be…_

"The greatest, right?"

A young woman with blonde hair and soft brown eyes sat in front of her mirror, going over her thought. It was the same way every morning. She wanted to remind herself of how far she had come…and how far she really wanted to go.

"How many years of knowledge rest in my hands…? And it's only becoming more and more pure by as the days go by. I want to see how far I can take this."

She smiled and nodded at her reflection.

"Let's take another step forward, shall we?"

This woman's name was Lillet Blan, a magician for the Royal Palace, simply known to many as a state magician. She had spent less than a year in the Magical Academy, which was in the tower known as the Silver Star.

That tower once belonged to the feared Archmage Calvaros, who terrorized the world before being sealed away by a few brave and powerful magicians.

Lillet had gone through a period of five days at the Academy, but had also done so in several thousand loops. After seeing and experiencing the tragedies of those five days over and over, she resolved to solve the mysteries of the Silver Star and save her fellow classmates and teachers. She fought her way through many obstacles, which at times included her teachers themselves, and finally managed to rid the world of Calvaros, as well as the powerful devil he made a contract with, Grimlet.

After all of that, she met her other self, stranded outside of the loops of time, and destroyed the cause of the loops in time, the Philosopher's Stone. She was reprimanded and interrogated for having destroyed the stone, but was helped by her professor at the Academy, Sir Gammel Dore, famous magician.

When that was said and done, everyone was safe and time resumed moving forward…

"Lillet?"

She heard the door to her room open slightly.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Are you okay? Did you get enough rest?"

"I'm fine, Amoretta. Just a little tired, maybe."

"You need to stop wearing yourself out, Lillet. You're only human, after all."

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Amoretta, but I really want to move forward with this. I'm fine, trust me."

"I don't think I'll take your word for it, Lillet. But I won't bother you about it too much."

"I promise I'll be fine."

The woman worrying about Lillet was her close friend, Amoretta Virgine. Despite her human appearance, she was actually a homunculus with an angel's soul inside of her. Her memories only spanned from the day she was 'created' by Doctor Chartruese Grande, but she didn't mind since most of those memories were of happy times with Lillet, who had saved her from being sacrificed to destroy Grimlet.

Ever since her birth, she had wondered what her reason for existing was, and had wondered what had been making her feel like she was missing something inside of her. After meeting Lillet, she wondered no longer. Her reason for existence was to live and be as happy as she could be. And the thing missing from her life was love. On the day they met, Lillet promised her that she would give her as much love as she would ever need, whenever she needed it.

To this day, she had been true to her word.

Amoretta sighed and smiled at Lillet. "If it's like that…okay. But come and have breakfast, at least."

"I'll change and be right out. Oh, and tell Gaff not to-"

A loud crash came from outside of the room.

"…Never mind, Amoretta. I'll be out in a moment."

* * *

"Lillet, what a nice surprise! You're up early, and looking as great as ever!"

The one handing out gratuitous compliments was Gaff, an elf caretaker who had travelled with Lillet from the Academy. He had asked to come, and Lillet didn't mind having help with housekeeping...he wasn't bad, in fact he was very good with keeping the house neat and tidy, it was just that…he was prone to breaking things.

A _lot_ of things.

"You're a million years too early to pull one over on me, Gaff. Where'd you put them?"

"What do you mean?"

"My Alchemy journal…my special flask…and my scarf. My very…very…_very_ rare scarf I got at a yard sale."

"Well, you see…it's a long-"

"Oh, I can wait. I have all the time in the world, Gaff. Come on, now."

"F-Fine! Your journal's drying on the kitchen counter, your flask is in the trash, and I'm steam cleaning the scarf! Happy?"

"Not very. It's my fault anyways."

"How so?"

Lillet gave him a sympathetic look before walking off to the kitchen. She really worried for him sometimes. If he wasn't so cute, she probably would have murdered him many times over by now.

"Hey…hey! What's that look for? Lillet? Come on, tell me!"

* * *

"So I'll see you two later, okay?"

"You'll come to the performance if you're not busy, right?"

"Of course! I love hearing you sing, Amoretta. I'll try my best to be there."

"Don't push yourself, Lillet. There will be a lot of other chances to come and see me."

"But…I feel like I'm letting you down."

Amoretta placed a hand under Lillet's chin and pushed it up, giving her a warm smile.

"You've never let me down before, Lillet Blan. I believe in you."

"…Okay. But I'm still going to work hard so I can come and see you tonight!"

"I understand. Have a good day, Lillet."

Lillet made her way off to one of a series of appointments that day. Being a state magician was demanding work at times, but she knew that she could handle it all pretty easily. It was just that she also wanted to be able to support Amoretta in what she did, as a singer at the city theatre.

Her voice was amazing, and hearing it in that grand hall was nothing short of heavenly…but this work and her research were getting in the way. She was finding it hard to sleep with everything piling up, and it seemed to be taking its toll on Amoretta, who really preferred sleeping with someone next to her at nights.

"I feel terrible about that…maybe it's time for a vacation soon."

That would certainly be welcome.

"Mage Consul Blan! You're early," one of her assistants said.

"Yes, I need to set up some things, and maybe get some more work done."

"Understood. We'll help you out with the paperwork."

"Okay. I won't be around after a while, so I'm leaving some of it to you."

"Okay! Good luck, ma'am," the young woman said with a smile.

"Thank you."

And so, Lillet set herself to work.

"More of these reports…it's all the same thing. Mysterious runes being set, strange accidents…mostly outside of the city, but a few have been around here. The descriptions are really vague, but also very similar as well. Some kind of cult, or religious following?"

"Ma'am, this just came in from the head office."

"Thank you…what's this?"

It was something about the government investigating the Philosopher's Stone. They were going to talk to Professor Gammel about the origins, among other things.

"Right, he was one of the three that created the Stone. But why now? What's with this sudden interest? My heart's telling me…"

_This kind of move…it feels really suspicious…_

She stood up from her desk. "I'm going out for a while. I might be late for some of my meetings, so relay that, please."

"Yes ma'am. Anything else?"

"No, just-"

The windows facing the city streets exploded in a fireball, and the entire building was shaken to its foundation.

"What was that?"

More and more explosions started to sound off as time ticked on.

"I think…I think we're under attack!"

"Look outside!"

"What the hell? What is this?"

"Those are Golems!"

"So many of them!"

Lillet's ears picked up the sounds of panic. What were Golems doing _here_ en masse? Why attack a government building like this?

"…No time for pondering, I guess. An appropriate grimoire…this one."

Lillet snapped her fingers, and immediately, a book appeared in her hands. She opened it up and stretched a free hand forward.

"Here we go! Grimoire of Sorcery, **Hell Gate**!"

A spinning red circle appeared in front of her, and with that, she moved straight into the action.

"Come forth, Demons!"

Most magicians could summon about three Demons at most in a single command.

Lillet Blan was not like most magicians.

At her beckoning, twenty Demons appeared in front of her.

"You think you guys can get rid of those Golems for me? I'll give you the strength you need."

"We shall obey your commands, Mistress."

"Thank you. Now, let's get rid of these pests. Hell Gate, Fifth Level! Release!"

The rune in front of Lillet glowed brightly, and as it did, the Demons around her were filled with even greater power.

"Go!"

In a flash, they met the Golems outside, and then proceeded to rip apart the mechanical hulks with little effort. Lillet stepped outside herself to survey the damage caused by the Golems.

"Not too horrible…good work, you guys. I now release you."

"It was an honour, Mistress."

The Demons disappeared in flashes of red light, and the rune that Lillet had cast vanished with a snap of her fingers. The book in her hands vanished in smoke a moment later, only to be replaced by another.

"An amateur…those Golems were very close to the building, meaning the rune wasn't at a high level. Seemed more like a hit and run…"

She stretched her hand forward once more.

"Grimoire of Glamour, **Fairy Ring**!"

The rune she had cast was now green, and with a simple snap of her fingers, a few dozen Fairies appeared.

"We're here! What do you need?"

"I need you all to find someone for me. They're wearing a hood over their head, and they're riding some kind of summon. Most likely a Golem."

"A Golem? Those are scary!"

"Yeah, like…really creepy, too."

"Do we _really_ have to?"

Lillet sighed. "You guys…here, I'll do this for you. Fairy Ring, Fourth Level! Release!"

The rune started to glow brightly.

"There, now you have the Astral Change ability. Could you _please_ go and find that person I was talking about now?"

"Well…it's okay now."

"Yeah, they can't attack Astrals, can they?"

"But like, what if they have a Homunculus?"

"Huh? I never thought of that! That would be totally bad!"

"**All of you just go!**"

"She's totally mad!"

"Jeez, calm down!"

"Yeah, like…seriously."

Lillet sighed again and shook her head. "Really, Fairies are just…"

_Still, it looks like it's going to be a really long day. First the government opening up that Pandora's Box known as the Philosopher's Stone again, and then this attack just now. Amoretta…looks like I'm going to miss another performance of yours._

"Good Lord in Heaven…help me keep myself together."

Little did Lillet know that her long day was going to get a whole lot longer.


	2. Grimoire of Distant Thunder

"Okay, I'm here. Now I can get started…I'll find that office first."

A young man walked through the city streets, his bright yellow jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Hm…not too much further."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I'm just looking for a certain place."

"Which one?"

Two men that looked like guards new stood in front of him. They were big, they were burly, and they didn't look very happy, either.

"Uh…this one." He pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to the two men.

"…What do you want there?"

"Just to see a friend, that's all."

"You work here?"

"Well, no…"

"So how do you have friends in a government building if you don't work there? Who are you going to see?"

"Can't tell you, sorry."

"You'd better tell us, man. Otherwise you're not getting through."

"Listen, I've got to get over there. There's no time to explain, this stuff is classified, okay?"

"Unless you tell us, we can't let you through."

The young man sighed. "Damn it…I should just summon some Golems and shove you guys out of the wa-"

Before he knew it, he was pinned to the ground, his hands held behind his back.

"What the hell? Let me go!"

"What was that about Golems?"

"Leave me alone, it was a joke!"

"You an alchemist, boy?"

"Yeah, so what? Is that a crime, or something? You've got a grudge against Alchemy, or what?"

"You little-!"

"Stand down, both of you."

He felt the pressure on his back ease up a bit. A female commanding officer? He had to admit, despite the situation, his interest was piqued just a little.

"Mage Consul, ma'am. This guy here-"

"Uses Alchemy, I know. Let him go, he's not responsible for this."

"Ma'am?"

_Shoot, that voice…why do I feel like I've heard it before?_

"If it were this man, he'd summon a Chimera instead. Or at the very least, he would level up his rune accordingly."

"Hold up…ugh. There was an attack earlier? Involving Golems?"

"That's right. It was a small nuisance, and nobody was hurt, thank goodness."

_I know this woman from somewhere. Come on, think…_

"Madam Consul."

"Yes, Mister Ballentyne?"

_She knows my name? How the hell-?_

He turned himself over to get a look at the young woman's face, and froze up at the sight he saw.

"Holy crap…I can't believe it."

Standing in front of him at that moment was a gorgeous young woman, but more importantly…

"You…you're Lillet Blan."

She smiled, noting the expression of surprise plastered onto his face.

"That I am. It's been a long time, Bartido."

* * *

"So, you've been getting my letters?"

"I have."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Well, what do you say? It wouldn't hurt to try being a couple, right?"

"Bartido…your letters were quite flattering and all, but…I'm not ready for that sort of thing at the moment, you see."

"You know, it's really unhealthy for you to hold back your feelings like this, Lillet."

She sighed. This guy was still as insufferable as the last time she talked to him…but she didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing in this case.

"I mean, come on. I'm the total package here, if I don't say so myself. Looks, brains, personality, a nice smile, and an eye for artistic beauty…to name just a few things."

"Really? Anything else?"

"Uh…well, I could go into more detail, but…unless we got to know each other better…"

He laughed nervously. "It would be a bit indecent, you know?"

Lillet pondered his words for a moment, and then went red in the face as she got the hint.

"Tch…honestly. I'm sure you've gotten rave reviews, right?" she said with a tinge of irritation.

"Would you be mad if I said 'yes'?"

"I don't know if I'd be mad or slightly disgusted. Possibly both. But let's put that…subject…aside for now, Bartido. I'm assuming you're still in the spy business?"

"Close, but I do other things these days as well. I'm what they call a Special Agent. And that involves sometimes…you know…"

"Oh…I see. I guess I judged you too quickly, then."

"No, don't worry. I still chase pretty girls around on my off days. Of course…you're in a league of your own, you know."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"No worries. That aside, I've got actual business with you, Miss Consul."

"There's a café down the street from here; that should be a good place to talk."

"Okay…you'd better brace yourself, though. Some of this info I've got is pretty heavy."

* * *

"Found him!"

"Where?"

"Right over there."

Two of Lillet's Fairies had searched the outskirts of the city, and found the suspected Golem user. However…

"What's going on?"

"Whoa…the Golem…"

The giant metal creature had changed into an Astral form. The young man sitting on top of it looked around frantically for the source of the attack, only to find Skullmages surrounding him.

"This can't be-"

One simultaneous attack dispatched the Golem, and the young man fell to the earth unceremoniously. In the next instant, he felt a boot on his chest, and a sword pressed against his throat.

"I wonder where you were off to…?"

"You…red hair…"

"Oh? You recognize me. Well, I guess that shouldn't come as a _surprise_, should it?"

"Please…don't kill me."

"Don't you worry. I only kill those who resist me…well, I may have done away with some people whenever I got _really _mad. But that's beside the point. Just tell me what I need to know, and you'll be just fine!"

"Okay…"

"Good boy. Now, where were you headed so quickly?"

"T-The Silver Star…"

"The Silver Star? Whatever for?"

"For the Philosopher's Stone…and the grimoire…"

"Don't fool around. The Stone has been destroyed for years, and exactly _what_ grimoire? There are many of them. Spit it out, already!"

"You'll…you'll never find out-!"

The mystery person flicked their wrist sharply, and there was a spattering of blood as the young man's head was separated from his body. A dagger fell from his lifeless hands.

"Probably a poisoned one…just like Calvaros' followers. You idiot, I didn't want to kill you, but trying to stab me like that…unforgivable."

A dragon was summoned, and the person soon took off.

"That guy…he's dead…"

"Yeah…I couldn't see who that other person was, though. Something about red hair…"

"And Calvaros."

"That's the old Archmage."

"We need to go back to Lillet."

"Yeah, this is important stuff!"

* * *

"You have my full attention, Bartido Ballentyne," Lillet Blan said, sipping a cup of tea.

"Right. Like I said, this is some heavy stuff…" Bartido took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "Can you keep it between us?"

"Why? I'm just an ambassador. You should be doing this kind of stuff with the Intelligence Department if it's like that."

"The government's too slow, and if I went straight to the palace, they'd lock me up for months on end, or worse, jump the gun and start a series of witch hunts again. And the Magical Society…I won't even go _there_ right now. To be honest, I had a bunch of scripted crap to say to the Mage Consul about this, but since it's you, Lillet…"

"What are you saying? You trust me more than the government? More than the Royal Palace?"

He looked into her eyes with deep sincerity. "You're damn right, Lillet Blan. Other than the teachers at the Academy – even that devil – as well as Hiram and Opalneria up at the Palace, you're the only one I can turn to in this kind of situation. Not only that, but you've got the firepower to deal with this, far more than anyone I can think of."

"Bartido…you're asking me to…you're asking me to deceive my country…"

"I'm not asking anything of you that I haven't done myself."

"That's…! You mean…I'm the first to know?"

"That's right. Most of this was independent fact-finding, and I haven't submitted any reports…well, any real ones. Just some fabrications to keep the suits off my back, you know? But all of that is small potatoes right now. The other reason I can't go to the government…is because they're wrapped up in this, too."

Lillet took off her hat and placed it on the table. "The investigation."

"Yeah. It coincides with all of this stuff going down. All over this country, and even back in my own, we've been rounding up and spotting remnants of the Archmage's followers. The thing about that is…they were either beaten up, knocked out, tortured, or even dead half the time we found them. Someone has a vendetta against Calvaros' followers, and what's worse is that they were all up to something really bad. What else we found was bothersome, too. All of these stones with traces of magical power inside of them."

Lillet felt her blood run cold. "Stones…with magic power…Bartido, you don't think…?"

"Wait, there's more. Apparently, there have been reports of high-level runes being used in places…trying to summon something really strong… and all of them were for the purposes of Sorcery. I determined on my own that these were also the works of Calvaros' followers, and that all of these runes were designed after a particular one…"

"The Lemegeton…"

"How'd you know?"

"It just has to be…they're trying to copy something from the Lemegeton to summon…_him_."

"Him?"

The name escaped bitterly from her lips. "Grimlet."

"That guy? I didn't even think…"

"Substitutes are no match for the original thing…and I know exactly where they'll try to get it."

"Lillet?"

"We don't have much time…we have to get to the Silver Star right away. The Magic Academy is in danger."

"Whoa, wait! Help me out, here! How is the Silver Star connected to any of this?"

"The government doing an inquest into the Philosopher's Stone and the stones you found. The movement of Calvaros' followers, the attempts to summon Grimlet…I haven't connected everything, but I can already see that they want to bring back Grimlet, as well as the Philosopher's Stone…I just don't know why yet."

"I can understand them going after Gammel, but what else is there? Lujei's disappeared from the face of the earth, and Calvaros is gone, too."

"The Lemegeton. The one in possession of it right now…is a certain devil."

"You don't mean…no way!"

"Miss Lillet!"

They both looked up to see two Fairies hovering above them.

"You're back."

"We found the guy who did it."

"Where is he?"

"Lying in a field…decapitated."

"He was killed?"

"Executed, just like the other cases," Bartido commented. "But we don't have any leads…"

"There was something about the person having red hair…"

"Doesn't help much…"

"And something about Calvaros…"

Lillet jumped up. "The second person…had red hair?"

"Yeah. They said something about the Silver Star, the Philosopher's Stone, and a grimoire."

_That confirms it…they're going after the teachers at the Academy. And that person going after Calvaros' forces…I know who it is._

"Bartido…we've got work ahead of us. I just need to stop at home first."

"I'll tag along, then."

"Okay."

"Oh? I hear you're going over to the Silver Star…sounds interesting."

Lillet froze up.

_That voice…I really don't believe this._

She turned to look at the speaker.

"It's been a long time…Lillet Blan, was it?"

"It has been…Grand Witch."


	3. Grimoire of Fragile Calm

"It was a good thing I made that deal with you back in the tower…things have been so much fun ever since then."

"I see. So, how is it that you're here, in a physical body no less?"

"It was during one of my trips. I should invite you along sometime."

"No, I'm fine with this dimension, thank you."

The wild brown hair, blue flowers, and staff ornamented with a human skull gave her away immediately. She was wearing a jacket, but the rest of her clothing still looked as shameless as ever, Lillet thought.

This woman was one of the most powerful magicians to ever exist, and one of the creators of the fabled Philosopher's Stone, Lujei Piche.

There were two problems with this situation, however. The first was that she was supposed to be in another dimension. The second was that she was also supposed to be dead, as she had been for years.

She was neither of those now…and she looked a bit irritated.

"Yeah, I'm a bit pissed off."

"Why is that?"

"Because – who's your friend over there? He looks a bit familiar."

"Oh, you should know him. Bartido, introduce yourself."

"O-Oh, yeah. I'm Bartido Ballentyne, it's nice to make your acquaintance, Miss-"

"No need to be so formal! Just call me Lujei, okay?" she said with a wink.

"Uh…okay," Bartido said, blushing madly. "It's really nice to meet you, Lujei."

"You're quite right, Lillet. I've seen him around the Academy…you've grown into a handsome young man, haven't you?"

"Thanks for the compliment…you're, uh…not bad looking yourself, if you don't mind me saying."

"Not at all! I _really_ like a guy who's straightforward."

"Well, that's me, you know. I'm a pretty straightforward guy no matter what time it is."

_I almost don't believe what I'm seeing here. Just shamelessly drooling over each other…what a perfect couple, _Lillet said to herself.

"If you're finished flirting, Bartido…we have some work to do. Lujei, if you're still around, we'll talk later."

"Actually, I think I have something relevant to your interests' right here." She placed what looked like a piece of rock on the table in front of her.

"Hey, hey…" Bartido looked over the stone with realization. "It's the same one."

"You mean that's one of the fakes?" Lillet inquired.

"Yeah…" Lujei said bitterly. "A damned fake Philosopher's Stone. It's what dragged me back here, to this world."

"Do you know why it did so?"

"No clue…but I'm pissed off that someone is copying my work…" She picked up the stone and crushed it with one hand. "And doing such a fucked-up job of it."

_Understandable…to have one of your greatest achievements just copied so sloppily like that, it must hurt terribly. Maybe that's one of the reasons she came back here, _Lillet said to herself.

"I'm guessing you want to know who's behind this, right?"

"I've already got an idea…Calvaros' remnants from across the continent and maybe others in addition. Not only that, but a third power as well…"

"The government," Bartido said. "Those guys are really moving suspiciously."

"I assume that's so…but I guess puppets can't move their own strings, can they?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"…It's nothing, forget about it."

Lillet committed the saying to memory. _Nothing, huh? I'm not so sure, Lujei. If there's something you're hiding…_

"Anyways, would you like to come with us?" Lillet asked.

"I don't mind it. Besides, I'd like to see what that old man thinks of all of this."

"Good, then it's settled. We'll just make a stop at my place first."

* * *

"Old man…you're sure about this meeting with those stuffy officials?"

"Positive, positive. Just telling them about the Stone doesn't mean they can go home and make it from scratch. Not only that, but each of us three held a vital piece to the puzzle…and we each made an oath to conceal one thing in our processes from the other two, in case we were interrogated like this."

"Clever…so Calvaros had a part in this, and now that he's gone for good, the Stone can never be truly completed again. And even if the government managed to find that Lujei…interesting, indeed."

At the Magic Academy, Gammel and Advocat were discussing the details of the upcoming visit by the government. From what they knew, it was just going to be a small group of officials asking questions about the Philosopher's Stone.

"I don't need to tell _you_ that appearances can be deceiving, Gammel Dore. There will be plenty of questions irrelevant to the topic at hand." Advocat remarked.

"Of course. I've prepared for a few of those myself."

"I don't much care for what happens in that meeting of yours. You old men can sit there and talk all you want until you die of old age, as long as it doesn't get me into trouble."

"Actually, we're going to have a few of the teachers at the Academy sit in on this. If there are any questions the government wants to ask of them, it can be done here as well."

"Oh, be serious…I actually have to listen to those bureaucrats repeat the same questions over and over? I'd rather be in the Ninth Circle."

"Would you rather have them conduct individual interrogations?"

"Is that the only alternative?"

"Well, it's the only lawful one."

Advocat sighed. "I suppose if it will…dispel suspicion. Regardless of the outcomes, I have the feeling we'll be running into trouble soon. Just a hunch."

The old man stroked his beard. "Hm. I'll keep that in mind, Advocat."

* * *

"Hey, I'm home!"

"You're back early, Lillet."

"There's something strange going on, so I've come to gather a few things. We're going to the Silver Star."

"Is there something wrong?"

"I'll explain it to you in a moment, Amoretta. Oh, could you…"

"The guests, right? You carry on, I'll tend to them."

"Thanks so much."

The group of three had just arrived at Lillet and Amoretta's place, to secure a few items as well as plan their next course of action in the matters concerning them.

"It's nice to make your acquaintances. I hope you feel comfortable here," Amoretta said politely.

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Amoretta," Lujei said.

"Oh, have we met?"

"Not really…but I know you very well."

"Well, I hope I've made a good impression on you in the past."

"Oh, you have. You were a very nice girl back then, at the Academy. I knew your old teacher, Chartruese."

"Ah, so he studied under you?"

"Yes…in more ways than one, I suppose," Lujei said with a nervous smile.

"That's good to hear."

"So, you're visiting Lillet right now, Amoretta?" Bartido asked.

"Visiting…?"

"Yeah," he said, pointing to her attire, which consisted of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt. "I heard you were a singer with the opera around here, too."

"Yes, I am. But I'm not visiting."

"Oh, you're staying for a while?"

"I already live here, Bartido Ballentyne," she said casually.

He froze up for a moment, and then started to laugh.

"Man, I couldn't tell if you were serious with that face of yours."

She tilted her head to one side in confusion. "But I am serious."

"…Eh?"

"I live here, with Lillet."

"You…huh?"

"Lillet told me that we would always be together, no matter what."

"Is that so…"

Lujei noted the perplexed look on Bartido's face, and figured out what was going on. A love triangle was interesting stuff, was it not?

"Amoretta…I'm thinking that I should have you come along, but I'm not too sure," Lillet said as she returned. "It might be dangerous when we get there."

"I can take care of myself, Lillet."

"I know, it's just-"

"Listen," Amoretta said, taking Lillet's hand. "You wouldn't have to worry about me at all, I've learned a lot from you over these years, and…I won't have you underestimate me, okay?" There was a tone of determination in her voice.

"I understand…sorry if it sounded like I thought you were weak or anything."

"It's okay, I knew what you meant, and I understand how you feel. Just don't put so much stress on yourself."

"You're right. In that case…" Lillet handed what looked like a keychain to Amoretta. It had miniature books hanging from it.

"Ah, the grimoires. I probably won't go through all of those spells, but it'll be useful."

"Okay, good. We need to get ourselves to our destination as fast as possible."

* * *

"Hiram? Are you not feeling well?"

"I just have a bad feeling, somehow. I don't know why."

Somewhere in the mountains, Hiram Menthe started to sense that something was off. If it wasn't coming from this kind of place, then what was he bothered about all of a sudden?

It did not make any kind of sense.

"Is it the air?"

"No, nothing like that, Opalneria. Just a feeling of general unease."

"I have to admit…I'm feeling the same way."

Opalneria Rain looked in the direction of the tower ahead, one that reached beyond the clouds in the atmosphere.

The Silver Star.

"Do you think everything's okay over there, Hiram?"

"…I honestly don't."

"Should we make our way over there?" Opalneria asked, brushing back her hair.

"I suppose we should. A visit wouldn't hurt at all, would it?" He pushed up his glasses and snapped his fingers once. A book popped out of thin air and into his hands.

"If there is trouble, though…"

"Yes, we'll have to deal with it."

"It'll be troublesome."

"Most things are, Hiram."

"…I suppose so."


End file.
